Imaginary Friend
by PinkRose0106
Summary: Sora has a friend, whom he dubbed Chirithy. He only sees the spirit-creature in his dreams, and he always tells vivid real or made-up stories. This is a short, sweet oneshot that shows their last meeting, when Sora was still a child. Makes the most sense if you've played Union x [Cross] and probably Birth By Sleep as well.


(I'll apologize for possible OOC-ness. And for those of you who might not know what "OOC" means, it stands for "out of character." I also apologize for slight inconsistencies and such that may pop up now and then. This is also mostly dreams and stuff, and when Sora's still a kid. This'll make the most sense if you've played/are playing Kingdom Hearts Union x [Cross], and possibly Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep as well. Special thanks to my friend who introduced me to KH in the first place, and giving me the inspiration to write this.)

Sora sat on the sandy beach, barefoot. He looked out to the island his dad would take him and Riku to. He waited for a friend.

Finally, after a couple of eternities, his friend came. Not Riku, but instead a spirit-like creature. He was light gray, mostly, but with a few darker gray stripes. He wore a pink, knitted pouch that looked like it had a sort of snowflake on it. His ears were tiny, on top of his round head. He wore a small, sky-blue cape with white edges. There wasn't any black on the little creature. Sora had called the little creature many things since he first showed up, but Chirithy sounded best.

"I was waiting!" Sora said, looking at his little friend. "Did you forget you promised?" Last time Sora saw Chirithy, he had promised to come earlier.

"I'm sorry," Chirithy said, "but I got distracted."

"How so?" Sora asked, curious. Chirithy always told stories, whether they be happy ones or sad ones. Sora always liked hearing them, nonetheless.

"It's easy to get lost in dreams." Chirithy explained simply.

Sora nodded, but only half understood. He knew when he saw Chirithy he was dreaming, but he didn't believe in imaginary friends; are they really imaginary when they know things you don't, seen things you've never heard of? Sora believed all the stories Chirithy told were true—it felt that way.

Chirithy walked over to Sora, and sat beside him. "Now, what story do you wanna hear tonight?" He said. "There's lots of them, ones you've heard and ones you haven't."

Sora thought for a moment. "Maybe one about a pirate?" He requested, once again curious. Pirate stories were one of his favorites.

Chirithy launched into a tale about a pirate, one of the stories that held a more made-up feeling, like Chirithy was saying it and making it up as he went along. Sora didn't care; he listened intently nonetheless.

The sky shifted from dark to dawn as Chirithy finished. "Do you want another?" Chirithy asked. "It's getting pretty late."

"I don't have anything to do today." Sora said, shrugging. "Tell me another, please! Maybe one about a leader?"

Chirithy smiled. "I think I know the perfect story for you, then." He said. "But it's long, so it'll have to be a two-parter. Do you understand?"

Sora nodded quickly.

"Okay, then." Chirithy said. "Where to begin, where to begin…" he looks out to the island, and starts to draw in the sand with a stubby paw. "Now, long ago, there was a little place called Daybreak Town." He continued like this, explaining the world, the setting. Sora partially wished his friend would skip to the actual story—this is gonna take all day!—but Chirithy soon starts to explain more about the characters, about five people who did their best to keep darkness at bay.

"But a war was coming." Chirithy said after what had to be hours, though it felt like minutes. He hopped up from his spot. "And so is the time for you to wake up."

Sora groaned. "Can't you continue?" He asked. "Just a little longer! I'm not gonna be able to make it through the morning!"

"I'm sorry, but your parents will worry if you sleep in too late." Chirithy said. "And besides, you're still just a kid…" he added, mostly to himself.

"I'm not a kid." Sora protested. But he couldn't argue further; there wasn't much reason to. Chirithy waved goodbye and left. Sora stared at where his friend had been for a little bit, until falling back onto the sand. He sat there until he felt himself wake up.

…

It was around midday when Sora saw Riku.

"Hey, Sora." Riku said without fully looking back at him.

"Riku! I saw him again last night." Sora replied.

Riku fully looked at him this time, something close to pity or annoyance or perhaps both. "You mean your imaginary friend?" He asked.

"He's not imaginary! He's real, Riku!" Sora protested. "Mom told me you could only dream of people you've seen before. He's real because I know I saw him, somewhere, outside of my dreams."

"You can dream of imaginary friends." Riku said. "Grow up, Sora; he's not real." He definitely looked annoyed now. Sora didn't blame him; if he was Riku he would be annoyed too. But Chirithy was his friend, and he wasn't imaginary.

"I'll find him one day, then you'll know he isn't imaginary!" Sora said.

Riku sighed. "If there is something like your imaginary friend, it's not here. There's not any reason to search for something you'll never find, right?" He said.

"He's not just some made-up figure based on a toy." Sora maintained. "I'm going to find him and then you're going to say you're sorry and then he'll tell you I was right!"

"Do you even know his name?" Riku asked.

"Of course! His name is…uh…" Sora trailed off. He knew what he wanted to say—His name is Chirithy—but the words die before he can say them, urging him to not share it.

Riku took Sora's silence as a sign that he couldn't remember. "See? Imaginary friends are there one minute, gone the next. I think you'll be better off if you stick to your real friend." He gave a reassuring smile, which managed to convince Sora to give up for now.

The two went to get lunch, and then to see if Sora's dad will take them to the island again. Sora couldn't help but wonder if his friend was right. Would he be better off without Chirithy? Maybe. Maybe not.

That night when Sora slept, Chirithy never came. Sora waited until it was morning again. Night after night. After a while, he stopped. It was uncharacteristic, Sora knew, to give up. But it was obvious Chirithy didn't want to talk; Sora could swear he saw the spirit once or twice while sleeping, off in the distance sitting on the island. When he would look to check, no one was there.

After a while, Sora forgot. Or maybe he tried to. His friend's story faded as well, the suspense that had been building up had fallen with the acknowledgment that he'd never know the ending. Maybe one day, Sora would be able to know the end.


End file.
